The fight served as the main event of Bellator 51, which took place at Ohio’s Canton Memorial Civic Center as part of the MTV2-televised main card. The prelims streamed on Spike.com.

Warren, Bellator’s current featherweight champion, was attempting a run at a second championship belt. However, the promotion did him no favors in the opening round by pairing him up against the 1996 Olympic freestyle-wrestling bronze medalist.

Despite being at a visible size disadvantage, the 40-year-old Vila proved to be the superior striker.

After a big right hand from Vila stunned Warren early, he shot in for a single leg takedown but was unable to secure it.

The final sequence began when the pair separated and reset. Vila immediately landed a left hook to Warren’s chin that had him out cold before he even hit the mat.

It was a stunning outcome for Warren, whose modus operandi throughout his career has been to take early damage in fights and find a way to come back and win.

Tonight would be different.

With his dominant performance, Vila (10-0 MMA, 1-0 BFC) reaches double-digit wins in his professional career while Warren (7-2 MMA, 5-1 BFC) suffers his first promotional loss to date.

Uber-prospect Dantas impresses with brutal knockout

The much-hyped 22-year-old Eduardo Dantas did not disappoint in his U.S. debut against three-time Bellator tournament semifinalist Wilson Reis.

The Shooto South American champion showed why many have pegged him the next big thing in the bantamweight division with a brutal second-round knockout victory.

While Dantas’ takedown defense may have been an issue at times in his native Brazil, Reis was not be able to expose him in any way, shape or form.

The opening round was essentially a kickboxing match controlled by Dantas’ seven-inch reach advantage, which led led him to landing the cleaner punches with superior accuracy. Reis was puzzled as to how to get inside his length.

Early in the second, a flying knee from Dantas sent Reis crumbling backward. A flurry of unnecessary punches finished him off as the referee was extremely slow to move in and stop the action.

Chase Beebe and Marcos Galvao started fast and furious with a back-and-forth opening frame.

The Nova Uniao-product transitioned to Beebe’s back following an early takedown. It was soon reversed, and Beebe locked in a deep guillotine. Galvao managed to escape and dove for an armbar. Beebe countered the attempt and stood, where he attempted a standing guillotine Galvao eventually shrugged off. The contentious round ended on the feet with both men trading punches.

When the second stanza rolled around Galvao was clearly the fitter man. He established his overhand right as his dominant weapon. An outside trip takedown and ground-and-pound strikes continued the onslaught.

An uneventful third round was controlled by Galvao’s kickboxing. He landed the cleaner, more effective punches while Beebe continued to backpedal trying to summon a second wind that would never come.

In the evening’s broadcast-opening bout, Ed West put his 5-inch height advantage to good use.

The Arizona native controlled the range throughout the vast majority of the 15 minutes on his way to a unanimous-decision victory.

The opening frame saw West force the action with a wide array of kicks on the feet, which kept Nogueira on the defensive and losing purely on volume. A takedown and top control from West midway through the round secured it in his favor.

Nogueira came out in the second round and showed a greater sense of urgency. He scored inside when he was able to control the clinch with his superior strength, but he couldn’t land anything significant. West continued his kicking assault when he had space, and the round could have gone either way.

The final round was a clone of the first as West continued to circle and land kicks while Nogueira stalked. West’s ability to fend off Nogueira’s late takedown attempts secured him the round and the fight.

In earning his spot in Bellator’s season-five bantamweight-tournament semifinals, West (17-5 MMA, 3-1 BFC) has now won nine of his past 10 bouts. Nogueira (11-2 MMA, 0-1 BFC), on the other hand, sees his win streak halted at seven.

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